The United States on Thursday granted the Philippines some $434 million to help build roads and carry out other projects aimed at reducing poverty and fighting corruption.
The money was awarded under the US-run Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) that helps developing countries reduce their levels of poverty as long as they meet performance criteria on the rule of law and democratic principles.
Present for the signing was US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Philippine President Benigno Aquino III.
The grant is intended to be used for a road project in Samar province, curb corruption through the modernization program of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) Project of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
The MCC, an independent United States aid agency, gives five-year compact grants for countries that pass MCC’s eligibility criteria in poverty alleviation, and threshold grants which are smaller grants awarded to countries that come close to passing these criteria and are firmly committed to improving their policy performance.
In 2006, the MCC also awarded the Philippines a $21-million threshold grant to eradicate corruption and attract international investments through the Millennium Challenge Account Threshold Program. (PIA)
